The Greatest of All Time

Chapter 11 - The Crucial Day II

A few minutes to 9:00 am.

Coach Mande looked at his watch before signaling for the teams to take their positions. All the players on the pitch, including Zachary, were waiting for his whistle to kick-off the game. It was the moment of truth that would define their destinies. Everyone was tense.

Coach Mande had chosen the red-team to kick off the game. Emanuel Luboya and Beni Badibanga were already standing in the center circle next to the ball.

Most of the scouts had already begun abandoning their seats in the stands. They had started moving closer to the touchline to get a better view of the proceedings. Most were adjusting their cameras to face the field to capture the moments of the match.

Coach Mande looked at his watch again before looking towards Damata on the sideline. The latter nodded.

*FWEEEEEEE!*

Kick-off!

Emanuel passed the ball to Beni Badibanga and rushed forward into the other half without looking back.

"Beni, pass here," Zachary called out to Beni after seeing him looking around for a teammate to pass the ball. He was unmarked and ready to receive the ball. The latter ignored him and kicked it towards Tony Majembe in the left-wing.

That was when Edo Kayembe, the right-winger of the team in green bibs, came sliding in with a tackle. He won the ball fair and square and instantly hammered it to Wagaluka Francis in the midfield.

Wagaluka beautifully controlled the ball and skipped past Beni who was already tightly marking him.

He looked up and kicked the ball high, sending a long pass towards the swift Stephen Mangala who was rushing towards the box in the red team's half.

Zachary and his teammates did not even react as Mangala received the ball just outside the 18-yard-box. Only Fredric Luamba stood between him and the goalkeeper.

Without looking up, he drilled a powerful shot towards the bottom left corner, forcing Samuel Baraka to pull off a brilliant save. The green team had a corner.

The red team was already under pressure due to Beni Badibanga's poor judgment in the first minute. He had chosen to pass to Tony, who was tightly marked by an opponent, instead of Zachary. As a result, the red team had lost the ball and almost conceded a goal.

"Beni," Zachary called out to the number-9. "Why did you not pass to me? He intoned as they ran back to their half to defend against the corner.

"Piss off," the striker scowled. "I'll play my game, and you play yours. Don't get in my way." He added before increasing his pace.

"Young kids." Zachary sighed.

The green team took the corner quickly, but nothing came of it.

For the next ten minutes, the game continued in favor of the green team. The boys in green dominated the midfield and had the majority of the ball possession.

Both Wagaluka and Paul-José Mpoku had already set Mangala loose three times in the red team's penalty box. Their deadly through balls could have easily turned into goals if not for the brilliant performance of Baraka, the goalkeeper.

Zachary already had a clear picture of what was wrong with his red team. His high game-intelligence enabled him to deduce that some of the players were choosing to isolate him. They were not giving him any passes. Since he was the midfielder responsible for building up all the attacks, his teammates' behavior was proving costly.

In his previous life, he had faced similar isolation during matches in soccer trials. Such matches were extremely competitive making it difficult for players to show off their skills. The main reason for this was the fact that players on the same team were still competing with each other. They all sought the attention of the scouts or coaches in attendance. Players would be less inclined to pass the ball to teammates who they viewed as competition. But what surprised Zachary was the appearance of such behavior in trials involving teenagers.